Quantum thermometry has long promised sensitivities beyond classical limits, with recent paradigms highlighting quantum coherence as a primary driver of precision. While most studies focus on single-point temperature estimation, we extend this framework to the spatial domain. We consider a probe two-level system (TLS) coupled asymmetrically to an auxiliary TLS that equilibrates with a sample of profile T(x). The reduced probe state carries coherence in its local basis that remains temperature-sensitive after the probe transition has frozen out, yielding a Fisher information exponentially larger at low temperature than that of a population-only readout. An exact reparametrization converts the thermometric precision into a local spatial distinguishability bound; its validity requires only a sufficiently small relative temperature uncertainty and yields an explicit measurement budget. Adding auxiliary TLSs shifts the array's optimal working temperature upward and broadens the useful sensing window, with the achievable gain ultimately limited by the total available coupling rather than by an indefinite scaling law. Finally, we propose a microwave Mach-Zehnder interferometer that maps the temperature-dependent probe coherence onto an experimentally accessible quadrature observable.
Quantum thermometry has long promised sensitivities beyond classical limits, with recent paradigms highlighting quantum coherence as a primary driver of precision. While most studies focus on single-point temperature estimation, we extend this framework to the spatial domain. We consider a probe two-level system (TLS) coupled asymmetrically to an auxiliary TLS that equilibrates with a sample of profile T(x). The reduced probe state carries coherence in its local basis that remains temperature-sensitive after the probe transition has frozen out, yielding a Fisher information exponentially larger at low temperature than that of a population-only readout. An exact reparametrization converts the thermometric precision into a local spatial distinguishability bound; its validity requires only a sufficiently small relative temperature uncertainty and yields an explicit measurement budget. Adding auxiliary TLSs shifts the array's optimal working temperature upward and broadens the useful sensing window, with the achievable gain ultimately limited by the total available coupling rather than by an indefinite scaling law. Finally, we propose a microwave Mach-Zehnder interferometer that maps the temperature-dependent probe coherence onto an experimentally accessible quadrature observable.
The precise measurement of low temperatures is significant for both the fundamental understanding of physical processes and technological applications. In this work, we present a method for low-temperature measurement that improves thermal range and sensitivity by generating quantum coherence in a thermometer probe. Typically, in temperature measurements, the probes thermalize with the sample being measured. However, we use a two-level quantum system, or qubit, as our probe and prevent direct probe access to the sample by introducing a set of ancilla qubits as an interface. We describe the open system dynamics of the probe using a global master equation and demonstrate that while the ancilla-probe system thermalizes with the sample, the probe per se evolves into a nonthermal steady state due to nonlocal dissipation channels. The populations and coherences of this steady state depend on the sample temperature, allowing for precise and wide-range low-temperature estimation. We characterize the thermometric performance of the method using quantum Fisher information and show that the quantum Fisher information can exhibit multiple and higher peaks at different low temperatures with increasing quantum coherence and the number of ancilla qubits. Our analysis reveals that the proposed approach, using a nonthermal qubit thermometer probe with temperature-dependent quantum coherence generated by a multiple qubit interface between a thermal sample and the probe qubit, can enhance the sensitivity of temperature estimation and broaden the measurable low-temperature range.
Abstract Temperature estimation, known as thermometry, is a critical sensing task for physical systems operating in the quantum regime. Indeed, thermal fluctuations can significantly degrade quantum coherence. Therefore, accurately determining the system’s operating temperature is a crucial first step toward distinguishing thermal noise from other sources of decoherence. In this work, we estimate the unknown temperature of a collection of identical and independent two-level atoms dispersively probed by a single-mode quantized electromagnetic field. In contrast to previous works, we present an analytical sensing analysis demonstrating that the joint atom-field evolution—without any assumptions or approximations—can achieve, at best, the standard quantum limit of precision concerning the number of field excitations. To investigate our analysis further, we propose and implement our thermometry scheme on a nonlinear Mach–Zehnder interferometer, which we realize through quantum digital simulation. Our proposal is highly flexible regarding atomic state preparation, allowing the initialization of atomic ensembles with positive and effective negative temperatures. This makes our proposal a promising and versatile testbed for benchmarking thermometric capabilities in current quantum simulators.
Quantum probes, such as single- and two-qubit probes, can accurately measure the temperature of a bosonic bath. The current investigation assesses the precision of the temperature estimate by using quantum Fisher information and the accompanying quantum signal-to-noise ratio. Employing an ancilla as a mediator between the probe and the bath improves thermometric sensitivity by transmitting temperature information into the probe qubit's coherences. In addition, we analyze two interacting qubits that were initially entangled or separated as quantum probes for various environmental configurations. Our findings show that increased precision is gained when the probe approaches its steady state, which is determined by the coupling between the two qubits. Furthermore, we can obtain high-efficiency temperature estimation for any low temperature by changing the interaction between the two qubits. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
Abstract Controlling and measuring the temperature in different devices and platforms that operate in the quantum regime is, without any doubt, essential for any potential application. In this review, we report the most recent theoretical developments dealing with accurate estimation of very low temperatures in quantum systems. Together with the emerging experimental techniques and developments of measurement protocols, the theory of quantum thermometry will decisively impinge and shape the forthcoming quantum technologies. While current quantum thermometric methods differ greatly depending on the experimental platform, the achievable precision, and the temperature range of interest, the theory of quantum thermometry is built under a unifying framework at the crossroads of quantum metrology, open quantum systems, and quantum many-body physics. At a fundamental level, theoretical quantum thermometry is concerned with finding the ultimate bounds and scaling laws that limit the precision of temperature estimation for systems in and out of thermal equilibrium. At a more practical level, it provides tools to formulate precise, yet feasible, thermometric protocols for relevant experimental architectures. Last but not least, the theory of quantum thermometry examines genuine quantum features, like entanglement and coherence, for their exploitation in enhanced-resolution thermometry.
Quantum thermometry aims at determining temperature with ultimate precision in the quantum regime. Standard equilibrium approaches, limited by the Quantum Fisher Information given by static energy fluctuations, lose sensitivity outside a fixed temperature window. Non-equilibrium strategies have therefore been recently proposed to overcome these limits, but their advantages are typically model-dependent or tailored for a specific purpose. This Letter establishes a general, model-independent result showing that any temperature-dependent unitary driving applied to a thermalized probe enhances its quantum Fisher information with respect to its equilibrium value. Such information gain is expressed analytically through a positive semi-definite kernel of information currents that quantify the flow of statistical distinguishability. Our results, together with an analysis of the relation between information gain and control cost, are benchmarked on a driven spin-1/2 thermometer, furthermore showing that resonant modulations remarkably restore the quadratic-in-time scaling of the Fisher information and allow to shift the sensitivity peak across arbitrary temperature ranges.
We discuss the application of techniques of quantum estimation theory and quantum metrology to thermometry. The ultimate limit to the precision at which the temperature of a system at thermal equilibrium can be determined is related to the heat capacity when global measurements are performed on the system. We prove that if technical or practical limitations restrict our capabilities to local probing, the highest achievable accuracy to temperature estimation reduces to a sort of mesoscopic version of the heat capacity. Adopting a more practical perspective, we also discuss the relevance of qubit systems as optimal quantum thermometers, in order to retrieve the temperature, or to discriminate between two temperatures, characterizing a thermal reservoir. We show that quantum coherence and entanglement in a probe system can facilitate faster, or more accurate measurements of temperature. While not surprising given this has been demonstrated in phase estimation, temperature is not a conventional quantum observable, therefore these results extend the theory of parameter estimation to measurement of non-Hamiltonian quantities. Finally we point out the advantages brought by a less standard estimation technique based on sequential measurements, when applied to quantum thermometry.